This is new in Microsoft Office 2019

The application areas and basic functions of the respective Office programs are well known, which is why we will not explain them in more detail in the following – Word for word processing, Excel for spreadsheets, PowerPoint for creating presentations and Outlook as e-mail software. As already mentioned, however, the applications have also experienced some innovations. The pen input for devices with touch screen displays has been improved across the board. In addition, there is a black theme and dark fashion that is especially easy on the eyes in the evening and thus prevents premature fatigue.

In detail, Word and Outlook now each contain a focus mode. This is intended to reduce user distractions caused by other programs or messages. For example, Outlook filters unimportant e-mails and keeps them in the background. Excel, on the other hand, now offers additional functions for data analysis and a further improved PowerPivot feature for sophisticated data models. The PowerPoint software has provided Microsoft with an optimized zoom function on the one hand and the “Morph” transition on the other, with which you can animate a seamless movement from one slide to the next.

High risk and illegal: Cheap Microsoft Office Keys

On eBay & Co. keys for permanent unlocking of Microsoft Office are available for less than 10 Euro. However, the purchase of such keys involves risks.

Since the introduction of Office 2016, Microsoft has also been using a subscription model for private users. Instead of purchasing a permanent license for the Office package, they are to pay a smaller annual fee for use. Microsoft wants to make this appealing to customers by providing regular function updates and the option of installing the software on up to 6 PCs in the same household. Costs for the home version with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Publisher and Access for non-commercial use: around 80 euros per year.

For those who don’t want to make friends with the subscription model, Microsoft offers two more variants as permanent licenses: The current Office 2019 Home & Student with Word, Excel and PowerPoint for 149 Euro and Office 2019 Home & Business for 299 Euro. Some providers offer the software at a lower price, but the Home & Student version also costs considerably more than 100 euros and the Home & Business version around 230 euros.

On eBay, Rakuten and other Internet marketplaces you can always find offers that only cost a fraction of the official price. On eBay, for example, we have seen Microsoft Office 2016 Professional Plus with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher and Access for the fabulous price of 2.18 euros. Many other offers are also well below 10 euros. The sellers promise to send a download link including product key for unlocking within one day or even within a few minutes by e-mail. The providers of these cheap keys usually have their headquarters abroad, especially in Poland, Great Britain and Italy.

Cheap Microsoft Office Keys

In the descriptions of the low-cost suppliers there is usually only talk of product keys or keys, but not of licenses.

Most providers avoid the word “license” in the descriptions, usually only product keys or keys are mentioned that the customer receives. He therefore does not possess a valid license and cannot prove it in an emergency. Nevertheless, activating the downloaded Office software works in most cases.

However, it can happen that a key has already attracted negative attention at Microsoft, for example because it has been used more often than permitted to activate the software. In this case, activating the key over the phone does not help. The only option is to request a new key from the provider – provided it is still available at all and responds to e-mail requests. Problems can also occur later: Microsoft also deactivates Office installations after they have been activated with dubious keys. Word, Excel and Co. can then no longer be used.

Keys from fragmented volume licenses

In most cases, the cheap keys come from volume licenses addressed to companies and fragmented for sale on the trading platforms. The fact that a Microsoft Office key comes from such a volume license can be recognized by the fact that it is Office Professional Plus (Pro Plus), which is not available individually. End users can only officially buy the Home version or Home & Business as a permanent license – we have not yet seen any extreme dumping offers for such Office variants.